Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale
The Ringenkai Plant
Chapter 3: Into the Spider Demon Cave
The late evening dew broke out upon the open pathways of the peaceful lands of feudal Japan, and butterflies fluttered lightly against a patch of dandelion flowers that were fresh in bloom towards the end of the autumn season. Alongside a long and beautiful sparkling river, Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kirara were all walking at a moderate pace, talking with one another.
"Man, we've been walking around for nearly a day now. How long will it be before we reach the next town from here? If we haven't taken the time to camp out last night, I would have been very pissed off. Not to mention hungry." Inuyasha groaned impatiently.
"Not that that's any different from the way you normally act. Even if we did get a good night's rest and a bite to eat, you'd still find an excuse to be cranky about something." Shippo said, perched on Kagome's shoulder.
"You hit the nail on the head with that one." Kagome giggled teasingly.
"Hey! I just have a lot crap on my mind to worry about, that's all!" Inuyasha shot back. "Besides, with all the jewel shards we have to search for, fighting demons, and helping out any innocents we may run across doesn't exactly come with a cheap invitation to rest and relaxation, you know! So just back off." Inuyasha said, crossing his arms.
Kagome laughed quietly again to herself, not responding. "Heh, it doesn't hurt for him to loosen up a little. But I can't blame him. I know he really must think of the more important things, dealing with Naraku and having worries about Kikyo. Out of all of us, I could easily count on him being in the biggest disposition... not that we all don't have reasons for hating Naraku. Miroku himself and his generation have been cursed with the Wind Tunnel, and he aims to end the spell once Naraku's death is relevant. And Sango, she wants Naraku to pay for murdering her family, with the addition of enslaving her once thought to be dead brother, Kohaku. It doesn't even end there, as a matter of fact." Kagome thought to herself, sighing as she stared at the ground.
"There has been other victims of Naraku's evildoing, such as Kouga of the wolf tribe and of course Kikyo. And from what we could gather even Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha's older brother, has a bite to pick with the most notorious demon that's ever existed. Things just don't seem to fall in place when it comes to everyone we've come across to know." Kagome thought. "I guess in the meantime, we'll just have to be careful of whatever may happen next. I just hope we can truly figure out a way to end all of the pain and suffering Naraku's caused to everyone, friend and foe alike. Then maybe, everyone could live in peace."
It was then that Miroku's calm voice had broken Kagome's thoughts. "We should all look on the bright side of things. At least finding another village would prove quite beneficial to our search for any jewel shards. And, providing the fact that we haven't fulfilled our nourishment since yesterday, all the means for us to continue our quest at full strength." Miroku announced.
"I don't care what big words you're trying to use, monk. Either way you slice it, you're most likely just planning to mooch off the next village we come across for every ration they've got available! And by doing that I'll bet you're going to make up another stupid story about some ominous black cloud hovering over their temple and plastering talismans all over the place until it looks like some cheaply put up wallpaper!" Inuyasha accused.
Miroku closed his eyes, holding his staff while making a prayer sign with his free hand. "You forget, Inuyasha. It very well so happens that exorcism is my expertise, and any common monk must do what it takes to reap the rewards. As they always say, and I'm pretty sure you've heard the meaning before, 'And to the victor goes the spoils'."
Sango glared at him, her eyes twitching. "You mean and to the liar goes the spoils. Have I also forgotten to add in a lech as well? Hm, maybe lech is not even a word big enough to describe you." Kagome chimed in with Sango, sharing the same glare as she. "You got that one right..."
Miroku waved his hands frantically, warding off the two girls. "Ladies, ladies, no double teaming on the monk, please!" He quickly looked at Inuyasha. "Um, Inuyasha? Some moral support here? Guys against the girls?"
Inuyasha could be seen much further ahead of everyone else, holding up his hand. "Sorry! You're alone there, Miroku! I'm pretty sure a common monk like you could handle defending himself against two angsty women." Inuyasha called back.
Miroku's eyes became beady and he facefaulted hard onto the ground out of embarrassment. Kagome and Sango looked down at him. "He gives monks a really bad name." Sango said.
"I couldn't agree with you more." Kagome nodded, her arms crossed.
"Sometimes I wonder if someone my age is even hanging around the right people." Shippo said, a sweat drop forming down his little head. Kirara let out a soft growl, shaking her head at the scene.
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Inuyasha and the others had finally arrived upon the next village, just in time to spot a small group of people gathered past the entrance up the stone steps. "Hey, look! It seems that something's up. I wonder why everyone's standing there." Shippo asked.
"From the frantic looks on their faces, I don't think anything good is happening." Inuyasha took note of the panic stricken people.
"I take it that we should ask what's going on." Miroku said.
"It was horrible! Just horrible!" one of the locals said in a traumatic tone as Inuyasha and the others came closer.
"Never have I seen such a gratuitous bloody scene." a woman said, shaking her head.
"Someone oughta do something about those demons, I'll tell ya! Do something before we all die!" an older local shook his fist.
"Did he say demons?" Sango said, her ears perked up.
"Oh yeah, he most certainly did." Inuyasha whispered.
Miroku cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Excuse me, but may I ask you folk of what may have occurred? We happened to overhear that you speak of demons around here?"
"Hm? Strange looking foreigners we got here." a local said.
"Who cares? They're human like us! In any case, you're damned right about those demons! Just earlier today there has been some sort of insect like creature slaughtering unfortunate victims from our village near a cave east of here. And not too long ago, a poor mother and her two children were found dead, brutally disemboweled." the older local said.
"It was such a horrific sight! None of us knew what to do at the time. We knew the spider demons in the cave had been a threat, but it seemed that our worries had worsened when they started doing all of these killings. We always knew that we should have set the place on fire to burn it down, but now this barbaric act confirms our beliefs." the female local said in a sad tone. "Even though we originally planned the burn the spiders and their eggs, we're not too sure any of us would even survive to tell about it, even in a large pack. We don't know how to handle the situation anymore."
"This is serious. These people wouldn't last against demons so powerful and fierce, and they're already aware of it." Inuyasha said to Kagome.
"Definitely, and this sounds like something only us could take care of. I don't think we'd be able to just leave here and move on without having any more of these people being harmed or killed by the spider demons." Kagome replied.
"Judging from the way the lot of you look and from what you're saying, are you people some sort of a demon extermination group?" the old local asked. "If so, then our prayers have been answered. I'd say its about darn time some brave warriors came along to save our doomed behinds!" he said, nodding with a serious expression.
"Well, we're not exactly exterminators or any kind of slayers, but we do always happen to slaughter every evil demon we may happen to come across on our travels." Inuyasha said.
Miroku stepped up and held up his staff. "We are perfectly willing to investigate the spider cave for you, and we shall see to it that we can eliminate the problem to prevent any more harm to come to anyone living here."
"What!? Are you nuts, Miroku? We don't have time to play spider stomping. Let someone else handle the job. For once these humans should just learn how to use their brains when it comes to fighting a demon instead of taking cover under the first object they see when things go fast from bad to worse." Inuyasha protested.
Miroku turned to his half demon friend and leaned close. "No, Inuyasha. You're forgetting that there's a good chance that these spider demons may possess a fragment or two of the Shikon jewel. This is an opportunity we don't want to ignore, that's if my theory rings true once we arrive there. Even so, I'd doubt these insects would hardly be any trouble for us at all. They may seem so powerful to the villagers, but to us, it will be mere child's play." Miroku whispered.
"What? Hey, you're right about that..." Inuyasha nodded. Inuyasha turned to the rest of his friends. "Alright, its settled. Let's go stomp some spiders!"
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Inuyasha and the others all approached the cave slowly, where they were greeted by the horrific sight of mutilated bodies, with the heavy stench of blood still tingling in the air. Severed hands, arms, and legs and other identifiable internal organs littered the cold ground, with some blood trails sloppily leading into the cave. It was suggested that some of the victims were dragged into the cave for the spider demons' late feasting.
Kagome had nearly felt sick to her stomach upon seeing such a sight, and she literally had to close her eyes as she held herself close on Inuyasha's arm. Inuyasha carefully led her and the others into the open clearing, seeing a headless female body crumpled against the stone wall of the nearby entrance. The bottom of a child's body lay not too far away from the female's, with some remains of an acidic residue bubbling from the top of the torn torso. Shippo couldn't bear to look at any of the deceased either himself, and walked along with Kagome and Inuyasha.
"Some of dead here must have been some stragglers who may not have heard of the dangers of the spider demons. From what I can tell, some of these bodies are fresh kills." Sango reported quietly.
"You're right about that, Sango... whatever methods these spiders use to kill their human prey, they certainly aren't by any means clean." Inuyasha said. "Kagome, Shippo, you can open your eyes now. We're at the foot of the cave."
Kagome and Shippo did as they were told. "Ohhh... I just can't help but feel sorry for all of these poor people. None of them deserved these ultra violent deaths... if only we had been around sooner. Then maybe we could have stopped any innocents from being killed at all by these monsters." Kagome said sadly, gripping the strap to her quiver.
"Even if we were here at any earlier given time, Kagome, nothing would have stopped these demons from murdering. It was only this point in time we would have found out anything about this cave at all... if nothing had occurred, then that would have meant we would have never known about this cave, and possibly never gaining any information about the jewel shards." Miroku said.
"Also, those villagers were planning to set this place on fire. I don't know if any of the individual jewel shards could withstand any type of force, whether it could be melted by extreme heat or possibly be shattered if dropped from a far height - but if anything, this provides to the perfect time for us to find out if there's any shards hiding up in any of these spider's stomachs. Not to worry though, as I'll slice it right out of their guts with the Tetsusaiga." Inuyasha said with pure vigor. Kagome felt more at ease at Inuyasha's words of confidence.
Both Inuyasha and Kirara took a good long sniff of the air. "Hmmm... There's definitely a putrid scent in the air... the all too recognizable scent of death and decay. Kirara can easily sense it too." Inuyasha said, looking down at Kirara, as she shook her body upon the repulsive stench coming from the bowels of the cave. "There's a certain dark aura I don't necessarily like about this place... everyone, take caution. We're going in." he said, and Kirara roared in response soon after.
The entire group slowly made their way into the cave, with a small yet warm wind blowing at them from within. The walls of the cave were slimy and slick with traces of human and demon blood alike, and the ceiling was showered with sharp, jagged stalactites and stalagmites, almost looking like they were ready to fall down and impale the very next passerby from the slightest sound vibration. Thick beds of spider silk webbing danced across various random spots of the cave, with them shaking slightly due to the wind that was blowing by. Shippo shivered with each little step he took, his mouth trembling and turning dry with over nervousness.
"I... I don't like this place already. Actually, I didn't like this place before we even came inside here. The whole environment is giving me the creeps." Shippo chattered, his teeth shaking as much as his voice.
"No need to worry... I agree it is quite dark in here, but we have no choice but to press on if we are to kill the spiders." Miroku said.
"We'll have to make do with the limited visibility. As a matter of fact, I think I can sense some sort of activity further towards the back." Sango said quietly, squinting her eyes to see ahead.
"Well, if its one thing I can guarantee you, is that they won't be moving around much by the time I'm through with them. Kagome, do you happen to sense any jewel shards?" Inuyasha asked.
"N... not yet. But I'll be able to tell for sure once we get in closer proximity." Kagome responded, still trembling slightly.
After a few more minutes upon walking, Kirara suddenly let out a loud roar. "Kirara!" Sango said, and everyone turned their attention to where Kirara was facing. Inuyasha's yellow eyes looked up to see an absolutely massive female spider clinged to an immense web, along with nearly thousands of small spiders accompanying it. Human sized webbed cocoons were strung up around the web itself and the ceiling, which were probably earlier human victims sealed up for food later on. Kagome and Shippo jumped away in total shock.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT SCARY THING!!!" both Kagome and Shippo exclaimed loudly in unison. Miroku and Sango gazed up at the scene, their eyes wide at the sight of something so utterly massive.
They were nearly speechless, but that didn't stop them from preparing to do battle. Sango automatically placed her hand on her Hiraikotsu while Miroku readied his staff. "Kagome! How many jewel shards can you sense from that thing?" he quickly asked.
"Umm... I see....." Kagome tried to recover from her shock, and counted the shards that were visible to her naked eye. "One... two... three.... there's six of them! There's at least six jewel shards!" Kagome said with brevity, as she pinpointed the exact locations of the shards. "There's one in its stomach, four in its legs, and one in its head!" she said aloud.
"That's a big surprise, because that's far more shards than any of the demons that we've encountered in the past had!" said Shippo.
"There's too many of them... far more of them than I couldn't come close to possibly count." Sango gritted her teeth.
"Well, all I can say is, either that the mother has gotten extremely lucky upon finding so many shards at once, or evidence strongly suggest someone GAVE the shards to it." Inuyasha said, his hand resting on the hilt of the Tetsusaiga sword.
"Gave it the shards? How is that possi---" before Kagome could even say anything, the larger than life spider demon let out a bone chilling shriek as it raced straight at the warriors with incredible speed.
"Guys! Watch out! Its headed straight for us!" Sango yelled, with blue and white energy lines streaking past her. Everyone followed up on her and quickly jumped out of the spider's path. The hulking eight legged freak of nature crashed into the entrance of the open area, knocking loose part of the stone archway. Dust and debris rained down upon the area where Inuyasha and the others previously stood, but that was the least of their worries, as the spider cocked its head and fired a long stream of boiling poison acid at the group. Again, Sango and everyone else dashed away as fast as they could, just barely dodging the deadly liquid. The acid burned its way through the ground, leaving a deep dissolving crater behind.
"That thing is fast!" Sango yelled, recovering out of a triple roll and standing back on her feet.
"The reason why its moving at a high speed is because the jewel shards are embedded in its legs. We need to somehow cut those shards out so that the spider will be at the disadvantage." Miroku replied, his body tense in deciding what to do next.
"Then its best that we kill this sorry bitch of a demon before it makes its next attack. That acid it just shot at us a moment ago isn't something we can shake off like its nothing." Inuyasha raised himself up from the ground, drawing the Tetsusaiga in the blink of an eye. What was once an old rattled and dull sword, had suddenly transformed into a beautiful razor sharp blade with a touch of his father's fur at the top of the hilt. A strong glint of light shone off the tip of the Tetsusaiga, primed to make its next kill.
"Be careful, Inuyasha! Don't get too cocky or anything while you're fighting! That's all it takes to end up forgetting about the spider's acid!" Kagome warned with a heavy concern.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I've ran into much worse demons before. Everyone spread out! This'll make it easier for us to take this piece of shit from all angles." Inuyasha shouted. Everyone dispersed immediately, with Miroku and Sango staying near the entrance, and Kagome and Shippo moved to either side of the spider. Kirara stayed in the middle in a ready to pounce position. She let out a fierce growl, her sharp fangs gleaming in the darkness.
However, despite the new formation the six of them have taken, it didn't stop the spider demon from letting out another loud shriek. The banshee like cry had rang throughout the ears of everyone in the room, and Inuyasha covered his ears. He felt as if his brain were about to burst upon hearing the ultra high decibels of the sound. "Arghhhh! Would you shut the hell up!!!" Inuyasha cursed at the top of his lungs.
Just then, the rest of the entire legion of smaller spiders had started to rush forth upon the mother's call. They all joined together in one gigantic sea of demonic monsters, their fangs shaking and chattering with a spine tingling screech. "Oh no! Now they're coming for us!!!" Kagome jumped, still intimidated by the fact that she hated bugs - especially the disgusting eight legged ones. She thought it was bad enough she didn't like worms, but huge freakish spiders was sure to be at the top of her list.
Miroku hacked away at the oncoming spiders with his staff, swinging it with force in all directions and killing as many as he could. Sango lifted her Hiraikotsu and threw it in a grand arc, killing a good twenty spiders in a row. Kirara stomped hard on the attacking insects, plowing her way in a straight line and squashing every spider in her path.
"Fox Fire!!!" Shippo charged up a slightly bigger blue flame in his hand, a little more powerful than his normal Fox Fire attack, and threw it at the overhanging web. The fire spread across the silk trap in a mere amount of moments, easily incinerating most of the spiders.
Inuyasha stood in front of the mother spider, his reflection appearing one hundred times in the lenses of its six eyes. Inuyasha stared it right back in the eye, his grip on the Tetsusaiga strong and firm. "Before I rip you apart limb from limb, let me say this. You've picked the wrong group to mess with today." Inuyasha said, and with that he jumped into the air. A few of the smaller spiders came racing at him, and Inuyasha cracked his right hand.
"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!!!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha shouted, decimating the spiders into bloody pieces with three quick slashes of his claw in succession. Inuyasha then took ahold of his sword and attempted to hack away at the mother spider, but it once again proved its speed by avoiding the up close blow and swatting one of its huge hairy legs at the half demon, swatting him down like a fly violently against the rocky wall. "Nnnnghhhhhh!!!!!" Inuyasha groaned, caught by surprise. "Damn it! Even for a considerably weak spider demon, the jewel shards inside it make it lot stronger than I anticipated..." he thought, his mind racing for an alternative on how to attack his foe.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the cramped space, Kagome was holding up her bow, carefully poising to attack the mother spider from behind with the shot of a sacred arrow. "Inuyasha! Hold on, I'm going to attack this big bug from behind!!!" she forewarned, witnessing the demon closing in on her cornered friend. "I can't afford to miss..."
Inuyasha breathed hard, trying to recover from the painful impact when he was knocked against the wall. His grip on the Tetsusaiga loosened a little, just before the mother spider skittered up close to him, its ugly fanged face just inches away from his body. "Gyaaaahhh!!!" Inuyasha yelled, as the spider demon raised another poison tipped leg. Inuyasha was getting ready to slash the leg as soon as it was a foot away from hitting him, but suddenly, a sparkling glint appeared from the corner of his eye.
"What!?" Inuyasha asked. His question was answered with an ear piercing screech from the spider, its raised leg being cleanly sliced off with the plowing of Kagome's arrow. Blood squirted up like a fountain from the stump, and the spider staggered backwards suffering from the attack. Inuyasha stared at Kagome in amazement, as she time and time again, saved his life unexpectedly. "Kagome..."
Kagome was fiery with her usual strength, seeming to not notice Inuyasha's brief stare of sincerity. "That was a close call! Hurry up and strike that ugly thing while its distracted!" the young girl called out.
"Hmm?" Inuyasha blinked. He returned to normal and stood back up on the edge of the extended rock, nodding. "Yeah, right! Hyaaaaaaaahh!!!!!" He dashed and jumped off the platform and swung his Tetsusaiga with all the strength he had, cutting off two of the spider's right legs in a single slice. Mixed in with the purplish blood glinted two of the jewel shards that gave it such powerful strength.
Inuyasha looked up in the air and saw them, a smile spreading across his face. "Aha! I thought so! That's two down..." Inuyasha said, running under the spider demon's belly and performing a upwards strike, slashing off its left hind leg. A third jewel shard flew up into the air and landed on the ground. "Kirara! Retrieve the loose shards! I'm going to finish the job by cutting off each part of its body one by one!" Inuyasha yelled over the deafening screams of the mother spider, with rivers of purple blood splashing onto the dirt. Kirara growled in response and ran after the three separate jewel shards, killing more spiders along the way. She picked each of them up in her mouth and ran back to Sango and Miroku to help them fight.
"Good job, Kirara." Sango praised her pet, right after hacking a group of incoming spiders in half with the swipe of her Hiraikotsu. She bent down and took the shards and placed them in a little pouch that was tied to the belt of her black and pink outfit. Miroku spun his staff and slammed some more spiders against the wall, killing them.
"There seems to be too many of them! It would be extremely helpful to use my Wind Tunnel right now, but I can't risk sucking the mother spider in because it still holds three more jewel shards inside it." Miroku said feverishly.
"I know, that's the bad part. And they just keep coming no matter how many of them we kill." Sango replied.
Shippo bounced back near them, setting another group of spiders on fire. "Inuyasha had better hurry before we become outnumbered by the spiders... and I have a bad feeling that won't be too far away from happening." he said, throwing a spinning top at a single spider.
The cave was even five times as noisy and cramped as before with even more spiders climbing from hidden alcoves in the walls. Kagome shot some arrows in some of the few holes that she could see, probably destroying the nests that lay deeper within them. "The sheer amount of these things is absolutely ridiculous! They don't seem to end no matter what! The jewel shards must have gave the mother spider a greater ability to reproduce so much. And I know Miroku's Wind Tunnel would be a godsend right now, but that idea is out of the question. In the meantime, I'm just going to have rely on Inuyasha to finish the mother off. He has to hurry while we still have a fighting lead here!" Kagome thought, taking another arrow out of her quiver.
Inuyasha plunged his right claw into the mother spider's abdomen, effortlessly tearing out the shard inside along with some its guts as well. The large insect reared back in a sufferable amount of pain, causing the earth to shake with each step it took. However, its involuntary thrashing of its legs happened to slash Inuyasha across the chest, creating a deep gash. Red blood squirted out of him, racing down his red robes. "Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!" Inuyasha cried and stumbled to the side.
The spider slammed itself against the wall and turned its head to spit another stream of acid at Inuyasha, but Sango came flying in on Kirara at the nick of time and grabbed him by the hand, getting him out of the way. "Inuyasha!!! Are you alright!?" Sango asked, with her friend now clear of the dissolving spot for where he once stood.
"Nnnghhhhh... Sango... Thanks for saving me... But I'll be okay! I've had far worse wounds. But if... it wasn't for you... I'd probably be dead right now." Inuyasha groaned.
"Save your strength, don't speak." Sango said.
"No.... I managed to get the shard in its stomach... but there's still two more." Inuyasha breathed, holding the shard in his hand.
Miroku and Shippo were still fighting off the onslaught of spiders, just as Sango arrived back with Inuyasha. Kagome sighed with relief as she saw the dog demon get carried to safety. "Whew! I'm grateful Inuyasha is out of harm's way..." Kagome said. But it wasn't over yet, as she turned her eyes to the mother spider and the realization had hit her that it set its sights on her next! "Oh no!!!" she said, taking a few steps back.
On the other side, Sango looked up and relayed the situation. "Damn, its going after Kagome now!" Sango said. Inuyasha climbed to his feet, alerted.
"What!? Its amazing how the shards can still keep that thing alive after dishing out so much punishment on it! I have to keep Kagome from getting hurt by that mangy excuse for a demon! Gyaaaaahhh!!!" Inuyasha yelled with rage, grabbing his Tetsusaiga and doing a mid-air dash, his body barreling straight for the mother spider.
Kagome hit the edge of the stone wall behind her, cornered. She narrowed her eyes and raised her bow again, enchanting the arrow with her holy power. "I don't have much time! The spider is only a few feet away..." she thought, with the grotesque demon closing in. She finally let the arrow loose, her body surrounded by swirling winds of holy energy. The sacred arrow shot forward at a high blinding speed, the tip of the blade zeroing in onto its target.
"KAGOME!!!!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha yelled, using one hand to shield his eyes from the light that enveloped the entire cave. The earth trembled along with the spider's movements, and it leaped into the air to attack Kagome... but it was it too late. The arrow pierced straight through its chest with an overbearing forceful impact, causing it to explode into several bloody chunks of flesh. Gallons upon gallons of blood drenched the stone walls and ground with everyone covering themselves from the foul stench of the insect's internal liquids.
Sango squinted and saw a jewel shard flying up into the air. "Kirara, there!" Sango pointed, and her pet leapt up and snagged it in her mouth. As Kirara returned to Sango, Sango looked around some more. "Hm? That's strange. Is that the only one? There should have been two shards..."
After a few moments of suspense, the holy light had finally dimmed down, reverting back to the dark and moist appearance of the cave. Kagome shielded herself, some of the blood splashing onto her uniform. Inuyasha opened his eyes again, and could barely say anything, his feet lightly touching the ground again. He stared at Kagome, nearly struck in awe at her increase in power. "She... she's killed the demon in one swift shot... How... how did Kagome get all of that strength for one attack?" Inuyasha quietly uttered to himself.
Inuyasha knew that this wasn't the time for any questions. He ran up to Kagome and put his hands on her shoulders. "Kagome, are you alright?" he asked. Kagome turned and opened her eyes, the sight of Inuyasha's concerned face relieving all of the tension that she felt a minute ago. She took a deep breath and regained her balance, a slight smile forming from her lips.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Although I'm not too thrilled about having a spider's nasty blood all over my uniform." Kagome's eyes became beady as she looked down at her clothes.
Inuyasha laughed softly a little. "Hey, we all got bathed in demon blood. Don't worry about it." he responded.
With a sudden loud thud, the spider's head landed before Inuyasha and Kagome intact, with some entrails of bloody tissue hanging from its severed neck. "Ahhhh!!! The head... is still here!" Kagome shivered.
"Hmph, all the more proof to show that it was slayed." Inuyasha said, beginning to become at ease that the battle with the mother was over.
Meanwhile, Shippo pointed over to the spider's head as Miroku and Sango were fighting off another hurrah of spiders. "Look! The mother's head is still there, so that must mean that the sixth shard is inside it, Sango." Shippo told her.
"You're right! Good, that's one less thing to worry about now! Miroku! Use your Wind Tunnel now! The jewel shards have been secured for us to take." Sango said.
"Right, I'm on it!" Miroku said, releasing the beads that were tied to the cloth on his hand that restrained the hole inside.
"WIND TUNNEL!!!" Miroku snapped his right hand up, revealing the black hole that was cursed upon him. A reverse torrential wind took bloom upon the cave, and the army of spiders were being sucked into the endless dark abyss to never see the light of day ever again. The spiders shrieked for their lives but nothing could save them from their doom. In a manner of minutes, every single attacking spider was now safely sucked up into Miroku's Wind Tunnel. Not a single one left was standing to pose a threat to the group.
"That's the last of them, finally." Miroku said, sealing up his hand with the beads.
Shippo sighed hard. "You can say that again for sure. I thought those things would never stop coming." the boy said, his eyes following the pools of purple blood that littered the whole lot of the cavern altogether.
"Ughhhh..." Inuyasha groaned again a little, holding the horizontal wound on his chest. He balanced his weight on the Tetsusaiga, with his blood dripping down in front of the blade.
"Inuyasha! You're still hurt from that wound that spider gave you..." Kagome said, reaching for him.
"Heh heh... its no big deal. Think nothing of it..... Nnnghhh.... Its just a scratch." he calmly protested.
"Hey, drop the tough guy act and let me take a look at it. I might be able to know which medicines to use to stop the bleeding. You shouldn't hide your injuries if you know you need medical attention!" Kagome said forcefully.
"Oh brother, another lecture! If you got something long winded and pointless to tell me, then I don't wanna hear it!!!" Inuyasha yelled back, an angry vein pulsating on his forehead.
"What was that!? First I save your half demon butt from getting skewered like a piece of meat, then I try to help you out and this is the thanks I get!? Say it again to my face, doggie ears!" Kagome shot back, her face turning red.
"Hey, you know what I said! You heard me, so don't go pretending you fell on deaf ears! You're looking for another excuse to give me a lecture on how to act!" Inuyasha said, sticking out his tongue.
"WHAT!? YOU JERK!!!!!!!" Kagome turned around, her fists clenched and turning white. "SIT, BOY!!!" Kagome yelled.
"HEY! WAIT JUST A SEC-----" Inuyasha was cut off as the beads around his neck forced him face first onto the ground with a loud thud, subduing the angst ridden half demon.
Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara walked up to the two of them, idly watching Inuyasha twitching on the ground. "Another demon slayed, another demon disciplined." Sango said, shrugging.
"He should never deny help whenever he needs it." Miroku said, sighing.
"He's better off not making a girl like Kagome angry. It'd avoid him having dirt in his diet more often." Shippo chimed in.
Miroku walked over to the motionless spider head and raised his staff. "We'd better remove the last jewel shard now that the mother is dead..." he said. However, just as he was about to slam the edge of his staff into the creature's brain, a certain glow shone out of its mouth. "What!? Its still alive? How can that be? It was decapitated!" said Miroku.
Inuyasha scurried himself up and saw the scene. "What the!? What's happening?"
"The head! Hurry and kill it before----" Sango didn't get to finish her sentence, as the head sprang up to life and shot itself directly at the vulnerable Kagome. Kagome sensed the jewel shard reawakened and turned around, gasping in terror. The spider's fangs were outstretched and dripping with poison.
"KAGOME! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!" Inuyasha yelled at her, leaping up to his feet and preparing to run and tackle her out of the head's way. But the head had moved far too fast before Inuyasha could intercept it. The head forced its fangs onto the side of Kagome's torso, impaling its sharp teeth deep into her flesh.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Kagome screamed out right after trying to stumble out of the spider head's reach. A mass amount of blood rained down her side and dress, her legs painted with the thick red liquid.
Inside the spider's mouth, a small seed was spit into Kagome's bloody wound and implanted into the fleshy red tissue, disappearing from view. As the spider head completed its task, its last remaining moments of life was taken away, as Inuyasha rushed in front of Kagome in a heated rage. "IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha slashed the head five times, blowing it away into pieces. The jewel shard which was inside had quietly fallen into the half demon's palm, where he clenched it hard as much as he did his teeth. Inuyasha's jaws were fraught with pain as he caught the falling Kagome in his arms, the blank expression on her innocent face sending a jolt through his rapidly beating heart.
"K... Kagome! Are you alright? Speak to me! Can you talk!?" Inuyasha demanded in a panic. Miroku, Sango and Shippo rushed up worriedly.
"Kagome!!!" Shippo cried, shaking the girl's arm. Kagome's eyes fluttered open a little, the searing sting of the spider's fangs shooting through her body. She was paralyzed, and had difficulty speaking.
"In.. u... yas... ha..." Kagome slowly spoke. Those were the only words she could say before her eyes became dilated. A trickle of blood spilled from her mouth, running down Inuyasha's hand as he skimmed her cheek with it.
"KAGOME!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha yelled, trying his best to fight back his tears.
Miroku leaned over and helped Inuyasha stand her body up. "Kagome, don't speak." He looked over at Inuyasha and Sango. "Her wounds are very serious, and the blood flow is immense. We have to get her out of here and tend to the wound as fast as possible before Kagome passes out. If she loses too much blood..." Miroku's voice trailed off.
Inuyasha turned around and squashed the little remains of the spider demon's head with his bare foot. "Blast that fucking spider for injuring her!!! If that thing was alive again I would personally make its second death one hundred times more painful than the first!" Inuyasha said, a stinging tear rolling down his right cheek. "If only... if only I reacted faster... its my fault for not protecting Kagome properly enough... I'm supposed to be there for her..." Inuyasha's voice was starting to break with sorrowful emotion. "If I had killed that demon completely earlier, than this wouldn't have happened."
Shippo tugged softly on Inuyasha's pants. "D... Don't blame yourself Inuyasha... it wasn't your fault..." Shippo said, in tears himself. Miroku placed a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder.
"Listen, Inuyasha, it wasn't your fault at all. Shippo is right, and Kagome would have said the same. We can't dwell on what ifs right now." the monk said in a low tone.
"Inuyasha, the most important thing is getting Kagome's wounds treated. Don't even let the past enter your mind, none of us could have predicted what would happen right now." Sango nodded to Inuyasha. Inuyasha remained silent, taking into thought of what his friends were telling him. After a stunning moment of silence, he nodded, his white hair covering the front of his eyes. He was unable to look anyone else straight in the eye after the immense place of fault he was feeling. Miroku's voice broke his thoughts.
"Come, let's hurry and get back to the village. I'm positive that we can find a means of helping Kagome once we arrive there." Miroku said, as he and Sango sat down on Kirara's back, propping Kagome between them for safety. Shippo climbed onto Inuyasha's back and the group left the cave in a hurry, being greeted with the fresh air of outside. But it was then that Inuyasha looked up into the sky and noticed something.
"Hey, hold on! Look up there!" Inuyasha pointed. Miroku and the others followed his gaze in time to catch a glimpse of a swarm of the Saimyoushou, Naraku's poison insects, flying away in the direction above the forest.
"Poison insects!? But what in the world are they doing here?" Sango asked. Inuyasha carefully used his excellent sense of smell to sniff the air.
"That's a good question. The air is heavy with their unmistakable scent. I can tell that they've been hanging around here for awhile. Most likely the entire time we were in the cave." Inuyasha replied, his eyes narrowed. "This obviously means that Naraku definitely had something to do with the spider demons we all just fought. It was actually some sort of an entire set up!"
"We should have known!" Miroku said.
"Its most likely true, as the mother spider happened to be carrying so many jewel shards on it to begin with." Sango agreed.
"Yes, and its possible that Naraku had came here on his own and placed the shards in the spider demon, making it immediately go rabid and attacking the people that came by the cave. This would explain the sudden murdering of the villagers, as the spiders weren't technically harming anyone beforehand." Miroku concluded.
"It makes enough sense that Naraku somehow found out that we'd be heading here and set this trap in hopes of getting us all killed. But at the same time his stupid plan virtually failed seeing as we killed all of the demons." Shippo said.
"While that may be true, I still can't shake the feeling that the encounter with those spiders was a bit too easy. It just seems so odd that Naraku would pull off such a weird stunt considering the much worse things he's capable of. If he could create two powerful extensions of his self like Kagura of the Wind and Kanna of the Void, why would we go to so much trouble of doing a petty thing like this? It doesn't sound right to me." Inuyasha said thoughtfully, his mind unable to come up with a proper answer.
"Well, if we follow the Saimyoushou, then there's a high chance they'll lead us straight to Naraku." Shippo suggested.
"But we can't do that! We shouldn't worry about that right now. We should just get back to the village and get Kagome to a medicine specialist as soon as possible." Sango said.
"Grrrr... you're right, Sango. The longer we waste our time, the worse Kagome's condition will get, and I'm not about to let that shit happen! Come on, let's go!!!" Inuyasha said, still feeling angry at the fact that he couldn't save Kagome from getting impaled earlier. Everyone rushed off on the dirt path back towards the village at top speed.
"Kagome... everything will be alright. Your wounds will be taken care of, I'll guarantee you that, no matter what it takes. Even though I don't show it, I'm truly scared to death for the fact if I had lost you, I don't know what I would do... I should have acted quicker. I should have been on my feet ready to defend you from harm, but I was too slow. Even though our friends tell me it wasn't my fault... shaking off this guilt isn't easy. I can't ignore it especially when you're this kind of pain. But don't worry, I'll ensure that you'll get the treatment you need." Inuyasha thought in his mind as he and Kirara and the others raced side by side, only a mile away from the village.
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Somewhere within the forest, the Saimyoushou swarm had stopped and lowered themselves down near one of the tall trees. Shrouded in the shade of the tree leaves stood a figure donned in a white baboon fur. The red eyes that glared through the baboon's empty eye sockets signified a dreadful stare of death, making the figure's very presence alone questionable in such peaceful scenery. The insect that led the swarm hovered in front of the figure, putting three jewel shards in the baboon's waiting hand.
The mouth under the baboon's teeth slowly smiled. "Excellent. The search did not prove to be a disappointment after all." the calm voice of Naraku spoke. He shifted the newfound shards between his hands playfully, softly laughing to himself. "While it appears that I may have overused far too many shards required to corrupt the mindless soul of the spider demon, either way my plan has worked out flawlessly with no room for regrets."
Naraku's head bowed down a little, his eyes fixed on nothing in particular, whereas his mind was focused on the task at hand. "With time and patience the Shikon Jewel of the Four Souls will finally be complete, and I must thank Kikyo for assisting me in shortening my search of the remaining shards by tenfold." Naraku took out the nearly complete Shikon Jewel, adding the new shards to it to fill up a little more the jagged groove at the edge of the beautiful sphere of mysticism. "Once Inuyasha and his annoying allies are out of my way, then my dream to becoming the most superior and powerful demon that has ever existed upon this pitiful world will soon become a nightmarish reality."
Naraku said nothing more, disappearing in a purple whirlwind cloud, and the Saimyoushou along with him.
The End of Chapter 3.